April 28, 2011
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MADISON, Wis. – The University of Iowa men’s tennis team was upended in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at the Nielson Tennis Stadium. The No. 69 Hawkeyes (8-13 overall, 2-9 in Big Ten) fell to No. 66 and 7th-seeded Purdue (13-12, 4-7) by a 4-2 decision on Thursday.
Iowa claimed consecutive singles matches to tie the score at 2-2, but the Boilermakers claimed the doubles point and won three singles matches to disrupt Iowa’s upset bid. Juniors Marc Bruche and Tom Mroziewicz earned singles wins, while Bruche and junior Will Vasos claimed the lone Iowa doubles victory.
“This was a very tough loss,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “In many ways it was a microcasm of what the second half of the season has been for us: a lot of close losses to very good teams.”
In Iowa’s regular season contest with Purdue, the Hawkeyes claimed the final two singles matches to knock off Purdue 4-3. Iowa again looked poised to make a rally, but Purdue held on for the win this time around.
Bruche won the first singles match in the No. 1 position, defeating Szymon Tatarczyk. Bruche held a 3-0 advantage in the first set when Tatarczyk forfeited the match after an injury. Bruche finished the season with 11 singles victories, all of which came in the No. 1 position for the Hawkeyes.
Mroziewicz earned a victory in No. 6 singles to tie the match at 2-2. Mroziewicz defeated Pawel Poziomski in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. The win netted Mroziewicz’s fifth dual singles win of the year.
Iowa fell short in tough three set matches in the following two singles matches, clinching the win for Purdue. Eric Ramos topped freshman Jonas Dierckx 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in No. 5 singles to put Purdue one match away from clinching. Vasos came up just short in No. 2 singles to Mark Kovacs 6-2, 5-7, 7-6, in the deciding match. Vasos finished the season with a team high 14 dual singles wins.
Senior Austen Kauss’ No. 3 singles match was left unfinished in the third set after the Boilermakers clinched the win despite the contest being netted at one set each. Aaron Dujovne won the first set 6-3, but Kauss responded with a 6-3 win in the second set. The third set was left unfinished, with Kauss holding a 5-2 advantage at stoppage time. Kauss had nine dual singles wins this season for Iowa.
Bruche and Vasos claimed the No. 1 doubles match to give Iowa an early advantage. The duo defeated Poziomski and Tatarczyk 8-5. Purdue won the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles match to claim the doubles point. Bruche and Vasos finished with a team high 13 dual doubles wins.
Iowa finished the regular season with eight victories, as well as two wins in Big Ten play that came consecutively over Penn State and Purdue. The Hawkeyes also topped two ranked opponents in the regular season.
No. 66 Purdue 4,No. 69 Iowa 2
Singles1. Marc Bruche (IOWA) def. Szymon Tatarczyk (PUR) 3-0, retired2. Mark Kovacs (PUR) def. Will Vasos (IOWA) 6-2, 5-7, 7-63. Aaron Dujovne (PUR) vs. Austen Kauss (IOWA) 6-3, 3-6, 2-5, unfinished4. Krisztian Krocsko (PUR) def. Garret Dunn (IOWA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-45. Eric Ramos (PUR) def. Jonas Dierckx (IOWA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-16. Tom Mroziewicz (IOWA) def. Pawel Poziomski (PUR) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles1. Marc Bruche/Will Vasos (IOWA) def. Pawel Poziomski/Szymon Tatarczyk (PUR) 8-52. Eric Ramos/Krisztian Krocsko (PUR) def. Jonas Dierckx/Austen Kauss (IOWA) 8-53. Aaron Dujovne/Mark Kovacs (PUR) def. Garret Dunn/Tom Mroziewicz (IOWA) 8-6Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,4,6,5,2)="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://hawkeyesports.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>